The French Revolution

Jefferson: Democrat-Republican

"All the people for the people"

Quotes

"...and that a failure there would be a powerful argument to prove there must be failure here." (Thomas Jefferson)

The importance of this is that if the Americans lost to the British that it would show that you can't revolt against your monarch and win without suffering horrible consequence. Since America won against the British, it gave the French moral and spirit to be able to go against Louis XIV and his aristocracy(the rich).

"Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all." (Maximilien Robespierre 1758 - 1794, Declaration des droits de l'homme)

This quote is saying that if a law takes away the right of man, it isn't a law at all. The monarch in France did exactly that; Louis XIV wanted absolutism as his form of government which would give him all the power.

Facts!

1. The American revolution and our creating of our Declaration inspired the French to have a revolution of their own and create their own Declaration.

2. On the night of June 21, 1791, after two years of being stuck behind their house walls, the King and his family tried to escape. They dressed as servants to get out but his escape was not well planned, and they were easily caught.

3. France in 1789 was thought to be an absolute monarchy which was an increasingly unpopular form of government at the time.